Interview for Faculty Position

A random walk through the mechanical properties of living cells

Guillaume Lenormand

Harvard School of Public Health

Our random walk will begin with static measurements of the shear modulus of the red blood cell membrane and its two-dimensional protein network. We will then move to adherent eukaryotic cells, and highlight a series of intriguing behaviors reminiscent of soft glassy rheology. Finally, we will show that cellular functions such as contraction, adhesion, or spreading, might be controlled not so much by specific protein interactions but rather by generic physical principles.